Small Business Owners Must Master Managing, Too

Small Business

October 22, 1996|By WILLIAM J. HOLLORAN Columnist

Q: I read an article that said many small business owners fail to grow their businesses because they are doers and not managers. What did it mean?

A: Managing involves getting things done through people. The article probably noted that many small business owners tend to rely too much on themselves. Since there is a limit to how much one person can do, as a small enterprise begins to grow, the entrepreneur must stop doing as much and begin thinking and devising solutions to the venture's opportunities and problems. The managerial functions small business owners need to master are:

* Planning: Small business owners need to find time to learn about and exploit opportunities, to set objectives and to forecast the budgetary implications of these activities.

* Organizing: Once a strategy is adopted, a structure that includes job descriptions and accountability needs to be formulated.

* Staffing: Because any small business is the sum of its people, determining the most capable people for an initiative may be the most critical management function. The existing business may be able to draw on talent already in the firm. Expansion may require extensive human resource planning to hire new employees.

* Directing: This function involves communication and leadership. Even the most fervent small business owners must sell their vision to the people working for the firm.

* Controlling: A firm's ongoing activities are usually controlled through cost, budgetary and information systems. Controlling starts with the standards established in the planning process and then adjusted for changes during the year. The small business owner must put in place a system that provides timely and accurate information in all the areas the owner/manager wishes to monitor.

Many small business owners make excuses for putting off these functions. The entrepreneur that cannot make the adjustment from doer to manager ultimately hurts the business's ability to grow and profit.

* Holloran is executive director of the Small Business Development Center of Hampton Roads. Write to him c/o The Daily Press, P.O. Box 746, Newport News 23607.